Susan Wallace Named Collins Award Recipient

Dr. Susan Wallace, associate professor of anthropology and director of the popular forensic science program at Baylor University, has been selected by the 2003-2004 senior class as the winner of the 2004 Collins Outstanding Professor Award. As the Collins Professor, Wallace will be recognized at commencement exercises on May 15 and will receive a cash award of $10,000. She also will deliver a public lecture at 3:30 p.m. Friday, April 30, in room 120 at Morrison Hall.

"I feel so honored to be in the company of such wonderful teachers that have received this award in the past," Wallace said. "Most of all I feel so honored to have been a part of a Baylor University graduate's life while he or she was at Baylor. Senior class of 2004, no greater honor can you give your professor and I am blessed for having known you."

Baylor Provost David Jeffrey said Wallace has a devoted following among students and has been nominated annually for many years for a Collins award.

"Susan Wallace is regarded by our students as absolutely outstanding," Jeffrey said. "Many colleagues have admired her tremendous success in growing our now burgeoning program in forensics. On numerous occasions I have myself heard or overheard unsolicited effusive praise from her students - not just for her stellar work in the classroom, but for her generosity and support as a mentor and encourager. Teachers of the caliber of Dr. Susan Wallace are what make Baylor an institution worth fighting for; I am proud to have her as a colleague."

Wallace earned her bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Texas. She has consulted for numerous law enforcement agencies, including the Texas Rangers and FBI, on the recovery and identification of human remains. She received a master's certificate in death investigation at St. Louis Medical School and studied forensic photography at the Dade County Medical Examiner Department and is a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Science and a member of the American College of Forensic Examiners.

Her research has been published in Journal of Forensic Science. She has lectured at the Canada Association of Physical Anthropologists, the American Academy of Forensic Science and at a seminar for Texas Rangers. In 1999, she received a certificate of honor from then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush for her work in forensic anthropology and the aid she has provided in crime investigations.

Wallace also has conducted extensive study of primate behavior, specifically the behavior of chimpanzees. She has written articles for such publications as Zoo Biology, American Journal of Primatology, Human Biology and Infant Development and Behavior. Additionally, Wallace has presented papers at the annual meetings of the American Society of Primatologists and the Conference on the Psychological Well-Being of Captive Primates at Harvard Medical School. She is a member of American Society of Primatologists and the International Society of Primatologists.

Wallace is married to Jacky Wallace, a Texas State Trooper, and has two children - Jamey Maki, who graduated from Baylor in 1995 and lives in Austin with his wife and son, Ethyn, and Margaret Maki, who received her master's degree from Baylor in 2003 and works as a Montessori teacher in Fort Worth.